New Repeats (600m / 400m, and repeat...)

It was simply a perfect morning for running today. Just perfect. Crisp, clear, maybe 42 degrees when we started, and warming all the way to 45 degrees by the time I got back to RunTex. Wow.

Some of my normal group weren't there this morning, but enough were there to make it fun. Frank is out in California for a couple of days, on business, Henry is off to Florida for a fun weekend, and Amy was gone, too. The run over to Austin High School went smoothly, with most of us discussing our various aches and pains resulting from Wilkie's hills on Tuesday. Drills were drills, puffing smoke in the cold air, and it was even light enough by 6:30 for us to see our watches clearly.

We grouped up, and were instructed to do at least 3 sets of 600m, 200m jog, 400m, 2:00 active rest (walk/jog). The 600 and 400m repeats were to be at the same pace, 10k race pace. Gilbert told me to do 5 since I'm aiming at the half marathon in May. I arbitrarily chose a 10k race pace of 7:40-7:45, which is faster than my current masters PR (8:00 pace), but is possibly in line with what I'm capable of on a flat course nowadays. Our group was pretty big, about 8 of us, and at the "go," Jan, Joseph, Margaret and some others blasted away from me. I ran with Shannon and Susan, with some new folks trailing behind us. I thought for a bit that we might be going too slowly, but we were right on at 200m, so I kept the metronome going, and we clicked off our first 600m in a near perfect 2:55 (7:49 mile pace), jogged the 200m in a fairly brisk 10:00 pace, and then knocked off the 400m at 1:55 (7:43 mile pace). Then, we got to walk up and back, with a slow jog, before starting up again. Shannon, Susan and I talked a little during the intervals, which was a good sign. By repeat number 3, I noticed that some other folks were walking between the 600 and 400, but my little group of 3 did a good job of maintaining a nice jog between the faster bits. Susan stayed with us until the 4th 600m, and then she had to go to work. Shannon finished off that 4th repeat with me, and then she had to go, too. I did the 5th repeat alone, and speeded up, of course. My last 600 was at 2:42 (7:14 pace), and last 400 was at 1:40 (6:42 mile pace), as I picked it up. Gilbert was watching my form on those, since I was the last guy out on the track, and I worked hard to incorporate his suggestions as I zoomed around the track. I need to concentrate on keeping my chin down and leaning a bit forward at the waist, instead of collapsing backwards and sticking my chin in the air a bit as I get tired.

Overall, I averaged 7:37 mile pace on the 5000m of intervals, which made me feel really good. I felt strong throughout the workout. Running back to RunTex alone was really different, and as a result, I was a little quick going back (9:04 pace). Total running day was 8.5 miles.

I had to get home to put out the trash (I forgot to do it when I left at 5:30), so I waited until I got home to do stretching and to do the 4 x 25 crunches, 2 x 20 back raises, and 2 x 10 pushups.